I An Idea For All of You, do you agree (concerns My Genetics Opinion)

[hudsonhousechicks]

I don't think you are too far off the mark. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. That's what I like about this forum, everyone can share their opinions and most people seem to be thoughtful and sensitive in their replies.

 

[chickenguru]

I guess you could say it is my opinion but I think that I also know from experience that
it is not always wrong to help a chick hatch. Bad genes are not the only thing that would
keep a chick from hatching. I don't think that I have ever "messed up" by helping
a chick hatch. Now there are times down the road that I was not 100% pleased
with what the results were but still I have had chicks hatch out just fine and there are
several of them in times past that I ended up highly displeased with. If you don't
like the results of how said chicken or rooster ended up, they also have a place in the life
cycle. Those automatically go in the freezer.
As far as the old timers..they are not always right just because they are old or have done
things a certain way for years. Doing wrong for 100 years don't make it right.
Also sometimes even the "professional" screw things up when it comes to the standards of
breeds. Look at the Rhode Island Red. The "Standard" now is different now than it was in
the late 1800's and early 1900's if I am not mistaken. (But those dark colored birds now are sure nice
looking)

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

The only time I've helped anything out was Sebbies and that's because their shells are very thick. They grew up to be gorgeous, big healthy birds and are doing very well. That said, who's to say that a chick/duckling/gosling/whatever isn't struggling to get out because of human error/humidity issues?

Just a thought...

And as for the other part of your post...

I do see your point and I partially agree with it...but there are some of us who are responsible and do work on "projects" while preserving rare breeds.

I don't sell many adult birds and when I do it's either people who are just starting out (and they're able to take advantage of sometimes YEARS of my work to get a head start on a new variety) or they don't care about type/showing and/or don't want to breed (just want eggs or Sunday dinner!) If a chicken is way off in type/color/temperament it's off to freezer camp and I don't sell those.

I realize that some people are not responsible breeders in many animals--dogs, cats, horses, children (LOL job security for me) but you just have to make the decision to not contribute to the mess. I sell hatching eggs to just about anyone who has money to buy them and sometimes to people who don't (I trade a lot). I only use the best breeders in my own breeding pens--but as for what these people do with the chicks they get out of my eggs, it's their choice and once they leave my farm, I have no control over the future birds or people's breeding choices.

Lastly, I wouldn't worry about it too much...those of us that breed responsibly and keep good stock will always "outshine" the backyard breeders in terms of type & quality. People who want a show bird or just plain nice stock don't go down to the feed store & dig chicks out of livestock troughs.

Look at hatcheries. Do people buy from them? Yes...millions of chicks per year--do they always have the best examples of the breed, no. What happens to all of the unwanted roosters from those hatcheries? Or the roosters that aren't sexed correctly and go into the city somewhere? If you just wanted a pet or a few chickens for eggs who cares what they look like? And they all taste the same.

I think there are enough different people & "mutt" chickens to go around that it may be an expanding issue but like most other things in life, there's not much you can do to control other people's actions...you can only learn from your own mistakes, try like heck not to repeat them and strive to better the breed you're working with and hope that others will follow in your footsteps one day.

Just my opinion.

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Quote:

 

[NYREDS]

As to your first point, I agree. Nature has determined that the chicks in question should not hatch. I believe there's probably a reason for that decision so I choose not to"help" those chicks to hatch. I have no interest in adding birds to my breeding flocks that nature says shouldn't be there.
As to the "projects" question I have to say I find it a little amusing that every time someone crosses 2 breeds it's a PROJECT.

ETA- crossing different breeds can be fun-it results in wildly colourful flocks. My first flock was a group of fantasticly diverse "bantys". It's the pretention of deeming it a "PROJECT" that amuses me.

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Quote:
True....speaking of which, do you have any Dom's for sale? I think I emailed you a while back but didn't hear back.

Okay...sorry for the hi-jack....

The PROJECT thing is interesting. For a while, that's all I wanted to do--make new breeds...and then it was new colors and now I do have a few pens of odd-colored birds but I'm trying to shift my focus more towards preservation while keeping a few pens of PROJECT birds because people like those.

 

[Dipsy Doodle Doo]

Hi! No, I do not agree at all with anything in your post.
There are times when eggs that are artificially incubated get 'flocked up' regarding humidity causing chicks to be stuck in the shell. NOTHING there applies to genetics, just human / operator error with incubating. If I flock up humidity and chicks are stuck, I must intervene and take them out of the shell. It has nothing to do with past or future genetics.
In regard to the other bit:

Alot of people are doing "projects" For Fun. I really think this should be left for the professionals, like hinkjc and the genetic guros on this section.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, are you serious?
I do appreciate your concerns, but HAHAHAHA!

Lisa
edited to add: No disrespect intended toward hinkjc and the genetic guru-types. Love you all and appreciate all the information you've shared.

L​

 

[LovinMyPeeps]

In the matter of helping. I've had some do well and others not, that to me is all the "natural selection" I need. I have 2 in the yard that had rough navel due to MY crappy incubator and MY in experience and they are big healthy gorgeous birds. As we all know humidity and temp, which are often human error, lead to many of our chick hatching difficulties. As for mixed breeding. Why not? Heritage breeds are wonderful however I would like to point out how the larger corporations like Cargill and Monsanto are "streamling" the production of food into monoculture? Isn't reusing the same lines over and over monoculture in it's own right as far as genetics? Why is making a better olive egger a problem, or a nice lavender color? I am a firm believer in heritage breeds, I have plymouth rocks myself, but I also know my mutts are hearty and healthy, forage good, have good personalities and lay good sized eggs, so who am I to complain?

I guess this boils down to, I also humbly disagree with your opinion.

 

[poultryhaven]

I agree a little bit with the first part, I usually dont help chicks unless they are expensive or important eggs.
But I disagree with the second part, I think its up to the person. Its their birds, they can do whatever they want with them. Maybe they are trying to create a certain characteristic like bigger eggs, longer legs to get away from predators faster, broodiness, or other things, I think they should do whatever they want.

 

[Germaine_11.20]

Oops I forgot the part about helping them out. That is a double edged sword. Due to our own imperfect incubating abilities sometimes the chicks have issues.

It takes alot of experience to know when to intervene and when it is best not to. It is a personal choice. There are times I know the humidity spiked and superglued healthy chicks inside an egg, and yes I help them out.

I have also noticed that a high percentage of eggs that don't hatch really shouldn't.

I am leaning toward not helping for the most part and helping when it is obvious.